Jon Hassell has been a constant a hero of mine.
For many years, staring at me every day, was a short list of hero names. Jon was the only musician on that list.
My heroes are, pretty much, based on persistence of vision. He had that dial set to high.
I have never played any of his music. I have never played with him. I’ve never seen him perform live. I know nothing about his personal or even professional life. All I know is from within the music. That has been enough to consistently set me on fire.
I can never listen to Jon’s recordings casually. They are an immediate jolt to my creative life and that’s how I approach them. I always find something startling and inspiring there. With most listenings, the seed of idea appears that I can take, plant into my world and grow something of my own. For me, this is a pinnacle of musicianship – that even one small phrase can open up whole worlds. Of course, you must make the effort to take it and run. Jon’s ideas, for me, come pre-built with running shoes.
His background is presented elsewhere, but it is of significant note that he studied with both Stockhausen and Pandit Pran Nath. The grand experimenter who claimed to not be from this solar system and the Indian singer who also trained Terry Riley, Don Cherry, W.A. Mathieu and La Monte Young. I’ve always assumed that Hassell’s melodic sense came from working with Pran Nath, but I can’t confirm. Putting Stockhausen into his equation is far more curious for me. However this does explain his willingness to “go whole hog” with his use of technology.
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There are several strong, and specific, elements that I am drawn to in the music.
The first is the atmosphere. I remember the initial moment of hearing “Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics.” It was around 1981 and came on the radio when I was living in Eugene, Oregon. I had no idea what I was hearing. Drumming? Voices? Africa? New York City? I was completely drawn into this strange and unknowable world.
The second is the sound/tone coming from the trumpet. Super breathy, sometimes harmonized, sometimes plain, but always with intention and gobs of personal presence. His sound speaks.
The third is melody. Jon followed the melody wherever it went. And it went to very unusual places. His phrasing is impeccable. The phrases pull you along in unexpected but always engaging ways. Stretching out as if breaking into a new dimension of time. Then contracting inward and settling back into the center,
The fourth is the usage of technology at an extremely high level. To know that this is happening at a high level is simply that you can’t tell it is happening at all. Like a magician hiding the trick side of the trick, Jon and his players never put the use of technology in the foreground. It is always hidden. I have worked to uncover quite a bit of this (ie. one of the live players capturing bits of the trumpet inside of Ableton Live and building sections from it.) But this is just the craftsman in me looking under the hood – it is not necessary for “eating” the music. And this approach is probably not recommended.
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Though I have never played any of Jon’s music I have taken to transcribing some of his melodies and solo lines. (FYI, this is hands-down the best way to get inside someone else’s playing.) It is absolutely fascinating to see how he weaves around the tonality. Every phrase makes perfect and fluid melodic sense. Yet he finds a way to move far outside of the “standard” tonal framework. Again, it is as if he is just following the melody along and wherever it takes him, and us, we won’t know until we get there.
Included below is a transcription of the piece “Courtrais” off of the release “Last Night the Moon Came Dripping Its Clothes in the Street”.
I feel a loss at not having ever gotten to play with him. There was a very short window of opportunity that opened up a few years back, but couldn’t get realized. I also feel a loss of not getting to hear newer material from him. But that is how it goes – we don’t live forever. At some point, the last note is played. And Jon has played his.
Godspeed.
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"Courtrais"
Trumpet solo transcribed by Trey Gunn
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Analysis by Mode
